You can’t exercise if you get injured or sick, and you won’t be able to control your weight.

A study supported by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute shows that women trying to lose weight can benefit as much from a moderate physical activity as from an intense workout. It’s more important for you to exercise regularly than to force hard exercise.

For you hard chargers out there, this should be news you can use. You don’t need to kill yourself, especially as you grow older.

How many times have you pushed and injured yourself? It can take months to come back from a pulled muscle. Tendonitis, a classic overuse injury, can take years to clear up. Ignoring a cold can add weeks and weeks to the time you’re sick.

So use your judgment. It’s much more important that you keep exercising over time than it is for you give it all you have one week and then nurse an injury for the next few months.

This is a very hard lesson to learn for competitive people. You’ve spent your entire life pushing and pushing and pushing some more. And there comes a time your body starts pushing back. This time comes for everyone, even you.

If you are in doubt, wait it out. Avoid injuries. Nothing stops an exercise program faster than getting hurt. You can’t exercise if you are injured, so be careful out there.